Some of you know we planned a Harley ride from Page, Arizona to Cedar City, Utah for October 11, 2018. It didn’t work out quite as planned! We had brought the Harley to Page in our enclosed motorcycle trailer for the first leg of our trip. It rained all night the night before our planned ride in spite of the weather forcast saying it would be improving with only some lingering showers on the 11th. They LIED! It was pretty chilly that morning as our ride time approached so I agreed with my wife to trailer the Harley over Highway 14 from Highway 89 to Cedar. Only occasionally do I see so immediately why I should listen to my wife’s counsel! It was snowing on top near Duck Creek as we crested the summit. There was snow on both sides of the road and it rained significantly where it wasn’t snowing! We would have frozen and been miserable! We enjoyed the colors of fall which were a blaze where nature hadn’t striped the Quakies bare and it was a beautiful drive in our cage, except when the clouds were down nearly on top of us! Though that too can be a beautiful display of nature it can really restrict visibility as well. Since we had ridden the Harley from Bryce Canyon to the Cedar City Temple earlier this summer we weren’t too disappointed to have to travel via cage this time.

The Cedar City Temple is beautiful inside and out and was quite busy that evening. It was a joy to serve in the House of the Lord with so many others! Any unanticipated waiting time in the temple is an opportunity to ponder, think, read scriptures, and pray not an inconvenience!

The 12th was pretty chilly as well for our wake up call. Given the ride time to and from Vegas we needed to get an early start! So, we trailered to Mesquite, Nevada and then rode the Harley to the Las Vegas Temple. What a contrast between “Sin City” and the holy house of God. What a distinct difference between the values displayed on “the strip” and of those convenenting virtuous lives to the Lord in His house! What a contrast between the hustle and bustle of the casinos and the peace and calm that prevails in the House of the Lord! Knowing this from previous experiences we completely avoided downtown Vegas. The temple is north and east of the city on the hillside overlooking the valley.

We met a couple of missionaries there with some recent converts. One of the missionaries is from Florida and the other from Meridian, Idaho - we plan to visit that new temple early next month!

On the 13th we trailered to the Hurricane exit off I-15 so that when we started our trip back to Page on Highway 9 it wouldn’t be necessary to first double back to Cedar City. From the exit we rode the Harley to visit the St George Temple. This pioneer day era temple is pristine and beautiful inside and out. As often is the case, there were more women than men in our endowment session. In 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) prophesied:

“Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness … in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different--in happy ways--from the women of the world.”

Our select little group that day needed and got without any extra prompting all of the men to participate in the prayer circle so that the altar could be comfortably surrounded.

On this trip we met a sister during a sealing session. She explained she is the only member in her family and is trying to get the needed work done for her family. She’s busy doing lots of  temple ordinances. Thanks for your example of devotion dear sister! You, like so many others, touch us with your pioneer spirit and temple and family history dedication!

Great to be in the temple, again - as it always is! I noticed the peacefulness in me has increased as we’ve been in three temples in three days!